Verstappen Survives Late Rain Shower to Win Monaco Grand Prix

Further down the grid, Nico Hülkenberg gained four positions, one of which was at the expense of Lance Stroll, who dropped back by four places. Hülkenberg’s progress was cut short when he suffered a puncture during a battle with Logan Sargeant and Stroll at Mirabeau. The Haas driver was subsequently penalized five seconds for causing a collision. Zhou Guanyu and Sergio Perez, starting from the back of the field, also made pit stops.

Verstappen controlled his pace in the early laps, running consistently in the late 1:17s, while Perez, his teammate, lapped one and a half seconds faster. Despite Perez’s efforts, Verstappen managed to increase his lead over Alonso by two seconds, with the two drivers creating a significant gap to Ocon, who had Sainz on his tail.

However, an incident between Sainz and Ocon brought about a twist in the race. Sainz attempted to make a daring move on Ocon in the tunnel, resulting in his front wing endplate colliding with the rear of the Alpine car. Despite having a new front wing ready, Sainz opted not to pit and continued racing.